Labour Day has come and gone,  the kids are back to school,  and the days are getting noticeable  shorter already. That can only mean one  thing – HOCKEY season!

The  Bears hosted the  Pembroke Lumber Kings Friday night for their home opener.  The first period of the  game went by without any goals  by either team. Pembroke’s Connor Warnholtz scored the first goal of  the game at the 6.14 mark of the second  period.

At  17.21, Brendan  Browne of the Kings  sent the next puck into  the net of the Bears, followed just seconds later with another goal  at 17.38 by Peter White, bringing Pembroke  to a comfortable three goal lead. 

But  the Bears  didn’t give  up just yet.  A score by Tate Leeson, assisted by Mitchell Larabie and Ryan Richardson, 42  seconds into the third period rekindled  the teams fighting spirit. Ryan Richardson  then went on to score the next goal at 3.31,  with assists by Brian Bygrave and Adam Church. With  a mere 26 seconds left to play, Richardson used a power  play advantage to even the score board with the help of Alex  DiCarlo and Joey Warywoda for a 3-3 tie. 

The  first  overtime  period saw  no further goals, however,  a couple of unlucky puck handling mistakes eventually cost the Bears the  game during the shootout. Only Malcolm Arseneau  of the Kings scored, while all others, Warnholtz  (PLK), Browne (PLK), Alex DiCarlo, Theo Todd, and Ryan  Richardson, missed their shots. The Lumber Kings won the  game 4-3.

While the Bears didn’t win the game, they demonstrated a powerful offensive, having  out-shot the Kings 54 to 36. First Star of the game went to Ryan Richardson,  Second Star to Connor Warnholtz of the Kings, and Third Star to Brendan Browne,  also of the Kings.